Dangerous driving runs in the family, a new French study has found, suggesting that the majority of motorists mirror their parents' behaviour on everything from road rage to speeding and drink driving.

Not renowned for their careful driving, it now transpires that 65 per cent of younger motorists between the ages of 18 and 25 in France say they are influenced by the behind-the-wheel habits of their mother or father - both good and bad.

Parental influence weighs far more heavily than that of a driving instructor and young drivers are more likely to ape their father than a mother, according to the Ipsos study conducted for a foundation of the Vinci autoroute group, which runs French motorways.

For 18 years, the child then the adolescent sees how his parents drive from the back seat

After speaking to 993 motorists, the study found that 75 per cent of motorists who admitted to suffering from bouts of road rage said their parents also hurled insults at others from behind the wheel, compared to just 36 per cent whose parents kept their cool.

Seventy-seven per cent of those who admitted to “driving too fast” said their parents did likewise, compared to 45 per cent of those who said their parents respected speed limits.

“For 18 years, the child then the adolescent sees how his parents drive from the back seat. In primary school, notably, he or she observes and compares what the law imposes and what adults really do,” Daniel Marcelli, a child psychologist, who co-ran a conference on “parenthood behind the wheel” on Monday during which the study was released.

The findings increase the onus on parents to make sure they drive safely, said Bernadette Moreau, from the Vinci Autoroutes foundation. "We can help children become good drivers. Bad behaviour is passed on, but so is good (behaviour)," she told Le Parisien.

A disregard for pedestrians is also a family matter, the study suggested, with 72 per cent of drivers whose parents don’t stop for people trying to cross the road saying they did likewise. Only 28 per cent of motorists whose parents slowed down for pedestrians were less civil than their mother or father.

The study found that 71 per cent of drivers whose parents kept on going despite being very tired did the sameCredit:
JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK/AFP/Getty Images

Among the most striking findings into inherited driving habits was about motoring in a state of extreme fatigue. Seventy-one per cent of drivers whose parents kept on going despite being very tired did the same, compared to just 29 per cent of those whose parents took breaks.

Motorists whose parents had the habit of driving while over the alcohol limit were twice as likely to do the same as those whose parents didn’t drink drive.

Those whose parents drove through red lights or forgot to indicate were also much more likely to do follow suit than people whose mother and father respected road safety rules.

The study came amid calls for the French to clamp down on road safety after a rise in traffic accidents over the past two years and a 30 per cent spike for the month of September when compared to the previous year.